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Food Labelling.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2004

Tuesday, 6 July 2004

Questions (134, 135)

Tom Hayes

Question:

166 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his plans to introduce legislation compelling meat processors to include country of origin on all meat produce sold here. [20274/04]

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Written answers

All meat sold at retail level is subject to the general food labelling regulations. EU regulations on beef provide for compulsory labelling and include a requirement for operators involved in the marketing of beef within the EU to label their beef with an indication of the member state or third country where the animal was born, reared and slaughtered. The regulations, as they stand, do not apply to the catering and food service sector. To address this situation, I recently announced my intention to proceed with a legal requirement in the sector to display country of origin in respect of beef served on their premises and have informed the European Commission accordingly. When I have evaluated the effect of this measure, I intend to look at the possibility of extending similar labelling requirements to other meat species. I recently introduced regulations to require origin of poultry meat to be indicated in the case of loose unprocessed poultry meat imported from third countries. Previously,the requirement had only extended to pre-packaged unprocessed poultry meat from third countries.

Liam Twomey

Question:

167 Dr. Twomey asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on the concerns of farmers regarding the traceability of agricultural products sold to consumers here. [20580/04]

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Traceability is the key element in food safety. The purpose of traceability is to ensure that, if a problem is identified at any point in the food chain, the source of the problem can be quickly identified and that, if product has been contaminated in any way, it can be traced forward to ensure that it does not reach the consumer. Traceability systems work largely through records of product received by a food business operator and forwarded by that operator to the next point in the food chain.

We have very significant levels of resources employed and systems in place to provide robust traceability for agricultural products from its production right through to purchase or consumption by the consumer. At the production stage, excellent systems exist to trace animals to the point of slaughter. Examples of these are the cattle movement monitoring system, or CMMS, the national sheep identification system and the national pig identification and tracing system. Processors are required to keep detailed records of throughput and retail and catering outlets have to keep records of suppliers. Traceability and labelling are frequently confused. As I mentioned, traceability is the ability to track products from its production right through to purchase or consumption by the consumer. Labelling is a tool used to inform the consumer. The concerns that farmers have expressed to me generally relate to the proper labelling of meat so as to give consumers sufficient information about the meat that they buy either in retail outlets or in catering establishments so that they can make an informed choice.

The food labelling group, which I established in 2002 to examine food labelling issues of concern to the consumer, was in full agreement that consumers have a right to information on the origin of the meat they cook in their homes or eat out. While the group could not agree on how origin should be defined, there was unanimous agreement that further research was necessary to establish consumers' wishes in this area. At my request the consumer liaison panel has carried out this research, the results of which were presented to me in December 2003. The findings of that research were that consumers purchasing meat at retail or catering outlets want to know the country of origin of the meat. In order to meet the demands of consumers as identified in the research, earlier this year I introduced two regulations on the labelling of poultry meat. The first of these regulations requires poultry meat loose and pre-packaged, originating in a country outside the EU to bear an indication of the country of origin when offered for sale in a retail premises. The second regulation requires information regarding class, price per unit weight, condition and slaughterhouse details in respect of loose poultry meat that is non-prepackaged meat, to be provided to the consumer. Heretofore, while these labelling indications have been compulsory for pre-packaged poultry meat it had not been a requirement to provide this information for poultry meat sold loose.

In the beef sector, a recent review of the EU beef labelling regulations did not favour the extension of the labelling requirements to catering establishments on an EU wide basis. That review did not preclude individual member states from introducing rules within their own territory. I am firmly of the view that consumers, whether purchasing beef over the counter or choosing beef in restaurants and catering establishment, have a right to know the origin of the product. Therefore, I recently announced my decision to proceed immediately with a legal requirement on restaurants and catering establishments to indicate to their customer, the origin of beef sold on their premises. A regulation to implement this decision is being drafted.

On the food labelling issue in general, my primary aim is to protect consumer interest and to ensure that the consumer is properly informed. Ireland is a major exporter of food and food products and indeed there are also considerable imports, so it is imperative that the same standards are applied to the labelling of foods in every sector and that there is a level playing field for the food industry at all levels. I hope to achieve this through the implementation in as full a manner as possible of the recommendations of the food labelling group.

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